Since moving to their Santa Barbara mansion in July, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have had police called out to their property on nine occasions.
The first month in their new home police responded to calls four times, once by phone request and three times for "alarm activations," according to information obtained under Freedom of Information Act cited by Daily Mail.
Then in August, police were called for a "miscellaneous priority incident." There were also alarm activations in November and February and in December an Ohio man, Nickolas Brooks, was arrested and charged after he allegedly trespassed on the property on Christmas Eve and again on Boxing Day.
Speaking with The Sun, Brooks, who had driven over 2,300 miles to the mansion, later admitted he may have been "high" at the time.
"I don’t know why I went to their place, that’s kind of where I ended up. I drove across the country - I know it’s crazy," he said. 'I've been told to stay away and that I'm never allowed back there but I don't have to appear in court. I was in jail for a night and they told me to stay away in future."
Brooks was charged on a misdemeanor trespassing charge.
Security has been a source of concern for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. During their explosive tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry claimed he was told "at short notice security was going to be removed," while they were living in somebody else's home in Canada.
According to Daily Mail, their police protection was taken away after they stepped down as working royals.
"'The biggest concern was while we were in Canada, in someone else's house, I then got told, short notice, that security was going to be removed," Harry said. "So suddenly it dawned on me - 'Hang on a second, the borders could be closed, we're going to have our security removed, who knows how long lockdown is going to be, the world knows where we are, it's not safe, it's not secure, we probably need to get out of here.''
The couple now pay for their own protection and the costs are "exorbitant," friends have revealed. Last year the Daily Mail estimated their security bill could amount to $5 million.
Security experts confirmed to Forbes that their annual security bill could easily exceed $2 to $3 million.
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Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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